We were planning on going to Tulum (Dreams Resort) next Christmas and getting some diving in while there, anyone been diving down there and have recommendations?

Cozumel is a big diving spot obviously, its always a good idea to get recommendations than to fly blind......I did a little research and saw that a couple of the local companies do dives in a Cenote, but that doesn't sound like any fun, am I wrong?

Cozumel diving is quite good. Cancun is so, so. Cozumel is world famous for "drift diving." The dive boats dump you in the water & then follow the air bubbles as you drift dive along the reef. Visibility is usually good. You will see lots of colorful fish, hard & soft corral, anemones, lobsters, squid, nurse sharks, eels, etc. Some of the Mexican dive operations are questionable. I have dove Cozumel three times, always with Dive Paradise, MX and had great experiences with them.

I did some Cenote diving in Florida. Not really my cup of tea, especially compared to the beauty of the open water. But, I don't know what Mexican cenote diving has to offer. I can't remember the name of the dive site, but my favorite Cozumel dive involved descending down through tunnels in the coral. It wasn't fully enclosed so there was always light. Very cool stuff. Provided the current is mild to moderate, drift diving is quite effortless. However, the currents can be strong. It's not unusual for currents at different depths to go opposite directions. For example at a depth of 15' current can be to the south while current at 60' can be north.

I got scuba certified in the 80s & did my open water cert dives & a week of diving including night dives in Cozumel. I'll never forget it! Bonaire is my favorite dive site so far. I am diving the Domincan Republic in May! Yay! There's nothing else like diving. There is a flow to everything. Plant & animal life is completely different from anything topside. The colors are vibrant! Snorkeling is to scuba what a scooter is to my Ducati!

No matter how long I dive, it always amazes me that you can get on a plan in Denver at 8am and be diving in Mexico by 1pm! Life is good!

One more thing, you might want to check with a dive shop RE ambient & Water temperature at Xmas...compared to Colo it will be warm, but might be a little chilly for diving. I don't know. Just thought you should check.

We were planning on going to Tulum (Dreams Resort) next Christmas and getting some diving in while there, anyone been diving down there and have recommendations?

Cozumel is a big diving spot obviously, its always a good idea to get recommendations than to fly blind......I did a little research and saw that a couple of the local companies do dives in a Cenote, but that doesn't sound like any fun, am I wrong?

And thanks for all the input!

Yes. My wife and I have around 60 dives in Cozumel. Great place to dive and we love it. EVERY dive in Cozumel is a drift dive. The diving area is a national park and divemasters are required with each group. Aside from the drift portion, I think Coz is a great place for first dives just for that reason. Everyone has their favorite place in Coz, ours is Scuba Club Cozumel. All inclusive, nothing fancy but everything is really good: The food, wait staff, divemasters, shop, etc. We are headed back there on 2/23.

My wife and I did our Rescue Diver certification at SCC on one vacation. While spending time in a classroom on vacation might not appeal to everyone it did to us. Something about the relevance of learning a technique then practicing in the ocean as opposed to a pool just made it worthwhile.

MurphyCO, you mentioned the notion of diving occasionally and being very casual. I wish you luck with that... we started the same way, didn't want to spend every vacation always diving. Turns out, we really really enjoyed diving and don't really care to do much else when we're on a dive vacation. We now travel almost exclusively to dive. Last year we dove Roatan, Little Cayman, Cozumel. Headed back to Coz next month then a liveaboard in the Bahamas in April. It's addicting, tread lightly. ;)

I can't remember the name of the dive site, but my favorite Cozumel dive involved descending down through tunnels in the coral. It wasn't fully enclosed so there was always light.

Sounds like Devil's Throat. Bottom out around 135' or so, right? I much prefer the shallower dives in Coz to the deeper ones. One of my most favs is Santa Rosa Wall. If you have the desire, I much recommend night diving in Coz. Some of the best dives I've had were night dives. LOTS of octopus, lobster, crab, etc. I too have dove with Dive Paradise but still prefer the crew at SCC. DP is a good op though!

I'm Storm, a PADI MDST Instructor at A-1 and Retail Salesman on the floor...Patj551 is right on with all he said.
Our website can answer all your questions or call me 3-789-2450 for further info.
Many students will take a wkend class or wknight class, whichever fits your lifestyle, then has to do 4 open water dives.
One option is to do the first 2 in one day at the Downtown Aquar'm, then finish dives 3 & 4 someplace else in order to become an OPEN WATER DIVER.
I did my 4 dives in Cozumel taking just 2 half days for completion. Coz'l is ranked #3 in popularity for the entire Caribbean, Bonaire is #1. The Riveria Maya strip of 75 miles fm Cancun to Tulum has really good diving, along with the Cenote (underground fresh water rivers offering cave like scenery). Akumal is my favorite pueblo for chillin' and diving.
Many think it's best to be certified prior to your trip that way you can dive your butt off the whole vacation.

The "Resort Course" aka "Try Scuba" that N Lopez mentioned is very costly and limited for what you really get...just a brief pool session and ONE 30-40 ft ocean dive...You cannot do anything else as you are not certified.. Once cretified, it's for life.

I'll be happy to meet with anybody and give you a tour of A-1 and get travel info fm our Travel Dept.

But right now I've got my 3 dual sport bikes on trickle chargers in a warm garage and alternate btwn the KLR on Wednesdays then the 1150GS on Thursdays and XR on Sundays...

A new Colorado diver might like to try Bonneville Seabase over at Great Salt Lake. Heated pools, one indoors, with tropical fish make it a very neat place to get certified and take required dives. My wife and I took dive training at Underwater Fantaseas in Lakewood, CO, which is a very good operation. However, she has mild asthma and we decided not to get her into scuba diving. However, not to be defeated, we worked harder on free diving and found it more fun than scuba diving. We went out with scuba divers in Florida and the Caribbean and swarms circles around them down to 40' down and pointed out key features in the reefs to scuba divers who were much slower. We bought inflatible kayaks and took them to reefs in Bahamas, Honduras, Belize, etc. and would spend most of the day out free diving with zero cost except for the room charges.

__________________"Get yourself to the hills and be uplifted, assuming you got some good knobbies"

To get the OPs dreams going, the places mentioned are all fantastic and offer good scenery to boot. My favorites are Roatan and Akumal (not so much for diving but ambiance and cenotes for change of pace), but nobody mentioned the Bahamas which are my favorite. We own a vacant lot (we camp) on Andros and go there when we can with a 140 mile long reef and a 4000' dropoff .5 miles off shore. Many places in the Bahamas are very easy to get to (can even take a fast boat from Florida) and ride the mail boat between islands. The water clarity is about the best, but Roatan is my favorite for water clarity and fish populations.

__________________"Get yourself to the hills and be uplifted, assuming you got some good knobbies"